The present invention relates generally to the art of telecommunications, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for load-based billing in communication networks.
By way of background, communication network usage is typically driven by subscriber demand. This applies to many types of communication networks, including wireless networks (CDMA, GSM, UMTS), wireline networks (PSTN, PLMN), and 3GPP/3GPP2 multimedia networks. Communication networks are often “over-engineered” in order to support high usage scenarios (e.g., Mother's Day). Currently, however, there is no way for the service provider to stimulate demand in real time during the times when the network is underutilized. Conversely, in times of crisis (e.g., natural disasters) service providers may want to discourage non-essential calling. Currently, there is no mechanism for treating such situations.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for load-based billing in communication networks, wherein underutilization and/or overutilization of a network can be detected and analyzed by a network element in real-time and customers can be provided with a stimulus to better optimize traffic levels on the network.